With so many options on the market, it can be pretty difficult to choose the products that fit into your skin. This guide will help you learn how to choose the right skincare and beauty products for your skin.
Skincare is such a personal thing. Or, at least it should be.
Here’s the deal: each of us has different skin types and tones, as well as even different skin goals. While one person may be looking for skincare products that can help get rid of fine lines, another may want to use products that boost hydration.
Someone might be looking for products that help calm irritation and redness while another wants to find a facial cream that helps treat acne scars and ward off breakouts. So, you see: skincare is all about personal needs and preferences.
Besides that, our skin needs are not stagnant. For example, while your skin may crave extra moisture during the dry winter, it may need something completely different during humid summers.
Lucky for us, skincare brands have been taking note of our various and different needs and are now offering a larger base of products that fit into everybody’s skin type. Yet, it can feel more confusing than ever to choose exactly what products on the market are right for you. That’s where we come in to guide you in choosing your perfect skincare products.
Know your skin type
First things first, you need to figure out your skin type because this is the most important factor in determining which products are right for you. If a product doesn’t work well for you, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is a bad product. It can only mean that you may be using the wrong product for your skin type.
There are various skin types out there, and each of them has different needs when it comes to cleansing and moisturizing. In fact, all the oily skin types out there are the winners as oily skin can handle a broader range of ingredients that to other skin types can lead to breakouts or irritation.
Here are the ingredients you should look for depending on your skin type:
Oily skin: Alpha hydroxy acids, benzoyl peroxide, hyaluronic acid- these ingredients control excess sebum production and only produce hydration in areas needed.
Dry skin: Shea butter and lactic acid- these ingredients hydrate and mildly exfoliate dry skin
Sensitive skin: Aloe vera, oatmeal, shea butter- these ingredients are excellent moisturizers.
Don’t fall for the hype
Have you ever heard about brands like St. Ives Apricot Scrub or Mario Badescu? Both brands were cult-favorites and gained a lot of popularity due to the hype created around them. But they actually ended in facing multiple lawsuits from consumers who used their products and suffered some really severe adverse reactions.
Fancy packaging and popularity, especially social media hype these days, are easy traps that we can fall into. With a dozen of influencers sharing their “success” stories with certain skincare products, it can be easy to fall for it and purchase them.
Yet, rather than simply buying a product based on your friends’ or influencers’ recommendations, you should pay attention to two crucial aspects: how good their skin really looks but also what type of skin they have.
Plus, keep in mind that influencers are people who are paid to tell you that certain products are the best. So, unfortunately, sometimes, their recommendations aren’t the most reliable ones. If you want to purchase a certain product and want an accurate beauty product review, better look for it online outside of an influencer’s recommendations.
Pay attention to the order of the ingredients
One thing that very few people know when they go shopping for skincare or beauty products is that the order of the ingredients actually matters a lot. Why? Because the first five ingredients listed on the product are often the ingredients that account for nearly 80% of the product’s makeup.
The ingredients of a product, be it skincare or beauty product, are listed in order of highest to lowest concentration. So, if you, let’s say, suffer an adverse reaction such as irritation, it’s probably because of one of the first five ingredients listed.
Also, if you are looking for a particular ingredient in a product, but that ingredient appears at the end of the list, that product isn’t really worth your money because it probably includes very little of the ingredient you are looking for.
Always test the products
A patch test isn’t just an excellent excuse to make a trip to Sephora and try a lot of products without spending a lot of money. Taking advantage of those tester products is actually a great practice in your process of product elimination.
Testing the product will help you determine if you are allergic to a certain product or ingredient. If the product irritates your skin, clogs your pores, or leaves your skin red, it’s probably not the right product for you.
Bonus Tip For Skin Care
Since you are in the concern of your skin, if you are someone who likes drinking alcoholic beverages or sometimes couldn’t avoid doing such yet you suffer from flushing, know that there are remedies such as Asian flush pill. Don’t put to waste all your efforts in taking care of your skin just because you wanted to have a good time!
Avoid these ingredients
As a thumb rule, there are a few ingredients that you should avoid, no matter your skin type, because they can simply be harmful.
For example, perfume in skincare or beauty products can cause skin allergies and irritation. If you have sensitive skin, avoid products with added fragrances at any cost.
Sulfates are another ingredient you should avoid as these cleansing agents can strip the hair and skin of its natural oil, which can cause irritation.
Parabens, too, should be avoided. They are usually used in skincare and beauty products as chemical preservatives to prevent bacterial growth. However, over time, they can have a harmful effect by throwing off your skin’s hormonal balance.
Look for these ingredients
On the flip side, there are a few ingredients that are really essential for all types of skin, such as ceramides, hyaluronic acid, and glycerin, as they are all essential moisturizing agents.
You should also look for products that include Vitamin E and C, which are both excellent antioxidants. Retinol should also be in your skincare products, especially in your products for your nighttime routine as it stimulates collagen production.
